What is the best hotel in DTD?(Downtown Disney)

I have a reservation at Royal Plaza but I am starting to get nervous from reviews that this place is not so great. I saw some good rates at Buena Vista Palace and my company has a great discount at Wyndam lake buena vista. Anyone stay at these and which do you prefer?
Also--I am traveling with a brand new five year old (birthday surprise trip) and I wanted to hear from someone who recently used the shuttles from the DTD hotels if they come fairly often or if you have to wait a long time? We are going in Late Sept so seems like a quieter time although with these discounts I keep seeing I wonder how quiet it will be! Thanks!! (Traveling with older parents who I don't think want to spend more for the swan/dolphin although I wonder if being closer and inside the parks would be much better and worth the money?)

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I went last year in Aug it was 8-12. I stayed at Hilton in Lake Buena Vista. Its right next to the royal plaza. I LOVED it!!!! such a clean and comfortable room at a great price. I paid 90 a night. This year ill be going back Sept 18-25 (maybe ill see you there ) but I do plan to stay there again as soon as I find a good coupon for Hilton. Right now the price is 135 a night.... lowest I've seen it but this hotel offers EMH which is the only hotel besides Disney owned that offer them. And the shuttles were always on time! I think it was every 15-30 min they came and they made the usual stops at other hotels it took about 15 min to make it to the parks. But as far as late September crowds.... i have no idea. It will be my first time going in late September. I hope this helped.

PS.... I missed your question about the the wait on the shuttles. We never waiter more than 5 min for them. Always on time. Also I had my aunt stay at Royal Plaza in March of last year and she loved it!

I went last year in Aug it was 8-12. I stayed at Hilton in Lake Buena Vista. Its right next to the royal plaza. I LOVED it!!!! such a clean and comfortable room at a great price. I paid 90 a night. This year ill be going back Sept 18-25 (maybe ill see you there ) but I do plan to stay there again as soon as I find a good coupon for Hilton. Right now the price is 135 a night.... lowest I've seen it but this hotel offers EMH which is the only hotel besides Disney owned that offer them. And the shuttles were always on time! I think it was every 15-30 min they came and they made the usual stops at other hotels it took about 15 min to make it to the parks. But as far as late September crowds.... i have no idea. It will be my first time going in late September. I hope this helped.

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Thanks! I would love to know if a better deal comes out for hilton although I can't imagine that we need the extra hours at his age. He will be exhausted at the end of this trip! Thinking maybe a king waterview at buena vista palace?

I am a huge fan of Buena Vista Palace. I've been staying there for the last 3-4 years. It's owned by Luxury Resorts, so the staff and rooms are awesome. I'll there again in September. If you go to downtowndisneyhotels.com, they have a special going for the next few days and you can book Buena Vista Palace for $89 instead of $180.

Hilton in WDW. Stayed there several times. Cant beat the location, 3 minute walk across the street to DTD. We have gotten as low as $79 a night.
Rooms are larger then the value resorts. Staff is very friendly.

Royal Plaza gets so many mixed reviews. I know that they are going to be having a huge renovation coming up. I have never stayed there but also have been reading reviews for an upcoming trip. We have stayed at the Hilton which is nice, a long time ago we stayed at the Buena Vista Palace when it was the Wyndham Palace, that was nice too. We stayed at the Grosvenor too, but I'm not sure what hotel it is now, that one was o.k.

It gets me so mad that some of these DD hotels get so many bad reviews for cleanliness. I mean, your in one of the most popular areas in the U.S. and you can't keep your flipping rooms clean. Simpy ridiculous!

We stayed at Buena Vista Palace on our honeymoon 2 years ago and we loved it. The room was nice and the bed was super comfortable. The restaurant was good but nothing too special. The pool area was really nice with 2 pools (one of which had a huge shaded area which was great for my pasty northern complexion) and a hot tub. The pool bar was great with tasty frozen drinks served by the pool. Best of all it is across the street from Downtown Disney and there is a nice path through the pool area to get you there. So you also get the benefits of all the restaurants in DTD. We didn't use the shuttle buses but we saw them going by constantly. Oh and the spa is lovely as well. You also get a Downtown Disney coupon booklet with discounts for shops and restaurants.
I also really like the Holiday Inn on Hotel Plaza Blvd, great beds, nice simple pool area, good value.

We have stayed at Doubletree several times and LOVE it. The first time I booked was through Priceline. Got two rooms for one night coming in on Christmas Day. Our plane was late, the car rental place was jammed and we had to wait for our big van, when we got to the hotel they had us in two king rooms even though I had called and confirmed two bed rooms. Front desk was so nice, upgraded us, apologized, and played with our kids whi.e we were fixing it. They gained customers for life from that one experience! We have never been disappointed!!